Dawn Chasers
by Nonspes
Summary: Set 6 years after the events in Kingdom Hearts 2. A Keyblader Academy has been set up to counter the the never ending Heartless and new threats. What awaits the new heroes in the Kingdom Hearts universe? New and old characters. I do not own Kingdom Hearts
1. The Dream

_**There are many worlds,**_

_**but they share the same sky.**_

_**One sky, one destiny.**_

The keyblade swung around the man in his dark cloak, each cut ending the existence of a Heartless. His moves attacking and defending at the same time. They were regular Heartless, what many scientists would call a Pureblood Shadow. They were weak, only attacking when their numbers were many. Like a small animal's instinct. Right now, they definitely outnumbered the keyblade wielder in this formless world of darkness.

Their numbers meant only one thing to the keyblade wielder. More to vanquish from this world. His eyes filled with the fire of battle, he stabbed another Heartless on the ground. The darkness it was composed of dispersed. The heart used to make it had already been consumed by the darkness. He gritted his teeth at this and dived into the swarm of heartless again.

Suddenly all the heads of the Heartless twitched up, as if they were receiving a signal from somewhere in the depths of this shadow world. They all melted into the ground, their yellow eyes pooling together into two huge eyes. More and more Heartless melted into the ground while the eyes like moons in the night sky watched him.

Soon the entire plane was devoid of Heartless and the keyblader was left standing between the eyes of a gigantic Heartless in the ground. The keyblader stared in shock of a Heartless so huge. Without any warning, the Giant Shadow burst out from beneath the keyblader's feet and swallowed him whole with a jagged mouth.

As the keyblader fell through the darkness, he tried to cast **Fire** to blast his way out. The ball of flame burst harmlessly against the darkness. It lighted up his surroundings for a few seconds as the flames flickered. The keyblader saw what he thought was some sort of landing. He stabbed the keyblade into the darkness next to him. The resistance against such concentrated darkness slowed down his descent and he landed noiselessly onto the ground.

He realized he could see his surroundings and saw a light from a distance. He walked towards it and as he came closer, he noticed it was a heart. The heart was definitely strong. The glow of light from it repelled the darkness around it.

"The darkness must not have consumed it completely yet," the keyblader thought to himself "I must save it!"

He ran and reached out to grab it. Out of the shadows, a hand of darkness slaps his own down. The keyblader jumped back in reaction to that and stareed at the hand coming out of the wall.

~_Trying to move the heart?~_

The keyblader widened his eyes at the voice that seemed to come from everywhere. Then he realised it was coming from his head.

~_The Heart is where it belongs. Surrounded by darkness! HAHAHAHAHA~_

The laughter continued as the hand moved out from the darkness. A arm and shoulder followed it. The source of the laughter came out the darkness, a maniacal grin on its face, its yellow eyes almost twinkling in anticipation. Soon its full body stood separate from the darkness. A Heartless version of him.

~_Now to kill you to stop the damn glowing! And the Heart will be all MINE! HAHAHAHA_~

With a sharp crack, a keyblade appeared in the Heartless hand. Yet another copy of his own. He swung it with lethal speed and the keyblader raised his own in defence. The keyblades met and sparks flew followed by a dull ringing sound. The Heartless continued smashing him and the ringing sound continued to grow louder. Soon he could hear nothing but the ringing sound. It began to blur his vision and made him unable to see the uppercut the Heartless was preparing. The dark keyblade smacked into him and everything went white.

The ringing sound continued till it actually wiped out the light around him. Then Raitin woke up.

Raitin looked around and realised class at school had ended. Just another dream of being a keyblader. He sighed to himself and slowly shuffled out of class with everyone else.

"At least I get to see Dakkun again," Raitin thought to himself happily as he walked out of school. Dakkun, his best friend had been chosen as a Keyblade Apprentice during the selection program. He managed to summon a keyblade which marked him as one of the few with hearts strong enough to fight Heartless. Raitin just looked like a fool in front of the scouts squinting his eyes and hoping for a keyblade to pop up.

Dakkun's first letter told him of a showcase of the keybladers from the Keyblader Academy would be coming over to their hometown. Raitin had went crazy over the chance to see his best friend and more keybladers. He knew the idea of the showcase was to show the many worlds how keybladers were not dangerous to normal people.

Raitin unchained his bike from the fences around the school and started cycling home. It had been six years since the world or rather the many worlds have known about keybladers, magic and Heartless. Since conventional firearms in many worlds had no effect on Heartless, many governments had to let the keybladers come in and help them.

Raitin was nine when the news flooded everyone. Multiple dimensions , other worlds, magic and evil to fight was like a dream come true. He spent many happy moments acting out scenarios with Dakkun. Now Dakkun was living in those memories. Raitin snapped out of those thoughts as he narrowly avoided a man standing on the roadside outside a shop. He glared at the man before cycling off, grumbling about window shoppers.

The man waited for Raitin to turn around the corner. He lifted his palm to waist level and waited for the magic to kick in. A ball of light appeared and radio buzz started to come out of it.

The man tilted his head towards it and spoke.

"Camo reporting in," He brushed some imaginary dust of his white cloak and continued "I believe I have found the boy."

A voice with a serious tone came out from the ball of light "Keep an eye on him."

"Gotcha," Camo replied. He let the ball of light disperse and walked into the glass. His body melting into the glass and leaving no trace. He left a shop assistant staring and very confused at what she thought was a potential customer.


	2. The Nightmare

**Author's notes**

**AGHHH!!! I was so focused in finally putting my fanfic on , I didn't realize I needed to add certain stuff like, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters including those related to other games or movies.**

**I only realised it after looking around the other stories and thinking" Am I missing something?"**

**This is just what I was thinking might(emphasis) happen after Kingdom Hearts 2. **

**This took longer than my (self) promised release of one chapter every week or two thanks to the release of my exam results and the rushing to fill up paperwork to go for a polytechnic.**

**Anyway, reviews appreciated. So those who read this, please review my story! Comments pointing out mistakes also appreciated.**

* * *

Raitin swerved his bike left and right through the streets. He kept his eyes on the road in case another idiot decided to stop and stare at shop products, blocking his way. Raitin noticed the people were keeping their umbrellas and the partial reflection of himself on the ground. Soon Raitin came out of the town's shopping district and into the less crowded housing district.

He struggled a bit cycling up the muddy slopes as headed for him home atop the hill, he could feel the weak rays of the setting sun on his back. With all the exercises he done, it wasn't too hard to reach his home, even with the muddy terrain. Not many people would see where he lived as a home. Only Dakkun and Raitin did. He parked his bike outside the gate of Nomura's Home for Orphans and locked it into the gate grill. He looked up from the lock and remembered what Dakkun told him before. "I always wondered who did the design for this place." Raitin mused aloud as Dakkun always had.

Nomura's Home for Orphans definitely stood out from the other homes in the neighborhood. It was two storey's high with a huge book half open for its roof. Its walls were diagonal from ground up, making the second story much larger than the first. The windows were all of different shapes. The person who designed it seemed to have gone crazy on the color. It looked like the colors around the door were exploding outwards and spreading across the entire house.

Raitin sighed as he remembered the stuff he would talk with Dakkun on the porch he was standing on. He took out the keys and put it into the keyhole and turned it. The door was completely normal compared to the rest of the house. It was a simple wooden door with a lock mechanism just like every other door in the neighborhood.

As soon as Raitin opened the door, three bodies tackled into his legs and clung onto him. With those bodies came the voices of the other orphans who lived here. A boy, larger than the rest with blond hair and bluish eyes lightly jabbed Raitin's stomach and challenged him.

"Come on Rai! I learnt some new moves today! Let's have a practice fight!"

Raitin sighed and lifted the boy up and put him outside the ring of children. He ruffled his hair and responded.

"Not today Snow. I'm kinda tired."

Another boy with silvery-blonde hair and blue eyes looked up from his hug and groaned "So you won't play with us today?"

A girl with pinkish hair with clear azure eyes also looked up and pleaded "Just for today Rai! Sis is no fun to play with!"

At that moment, a girl around Snow's height and age with pinkish hair walked in and pulled the girl away from Rai's legs while saying "Rai's tired Serah. Let him rest. You can play with him tomorrow."

Serah put on a grumpy face but let herself be carried away by her sister. Raitin grinned and said "Thanks Éclair."

Éclair smiled and suddenly glared at Snow and snapped at him "Why don't you do something your age now and then?

Snow grumbled and picked the boy with silvery-blonde up and carried him off "C'mon Hope. Dinner is almost ready."

Raitin took off his shoes and put them in the shoe rack by the door. He glanced at the empty spot next to where he put his shoes. He began to daydream when Dakkun still lived here. He took his school bag and started walking towards his room on the second floor. An elderly lady with silvery hair stuck her head out from the door way to the kitchen and spoke to him with her kind voice "Rai, I've cooked your favorite spaghetti bolognaise."

Raitin mumbled a reply and trudged up the stairs. Snow, Éclair, Serah and Hope all stayed silent in the dining room until they heard Raitin's door close. The second the 'click' of the door lock sliding into place came from upstairs, the silence broke.

"Rai's been pretty emo since Dakkun left right?" Snow started the conversation with a hushed voice.

Éclair nodded and whispered just loud enough for the group to hear "They both stayed here much longer then we have."

"Duh…I heard they were really close. Then Dakkun had to go to the Keyblader Academy. Right Grandma Aeris?"

Grandma Aeris turned her head away from the cooking pot and nodded but warned Snow sharply " You shouldn't poke around in Raitin's life so much."

This time Serah looked up from her bowl and asked "So when Dakkun comes back, Rai will play with us again?"

Grandma Aeris gave her sweetest smile and explained to Serah "Dakkun is busy learning how to protect us from those nasty Heartless, but he'll be coming back tomorrow for the showcase."

"Yeap and he invited us all!" Hope exclaimed happily.

They all continued to chat about the Keyblader's showcase while Raitin changed out of his clothes in his room. He took a quick shower and combed his raven black hair. As Raitin wrapped a towel around his waist he saw his reflection in the mirror flicker and look away. For a second, it looked like his reflection was somebody else. He stared at the mirror and his reflection's gray eyes stared back. Raitin thought to himself as he put on his clothes "I think I'm going to need more sleep."

Raitin walked down the stairs and sat in between Snow and Éclair to make sure they didn't squabble again. He ate the spaghetti much quicker than anyone on the table and he was finishing his third plate by the time everyone else finished their first. He took his plate and put it into the dishwasher while talking to Grandma Aeris "I'll be going out to meet Dakkun earlier tomorrow."

Grandman Aeris nodded and reminded him "Just don't forget to pick up the little ones later."

Raitin nodded and headed back into his room. Once the door was closed, he flicked a switch, the light bulb gave out a warm glow filling the room with light. He took a photo frame from the table and lay on his bed while looking at it. There were two boys in the photo. One with black hair and another with blonde hair. They had their arms around the other's shoulder, both of them were grinning with happiness only seen from the innocence of a child's life. Raitin could only smile as he remembered the fun he had. He closed his eyes and let them come to him.

He saw himself at 7 years old tying a blanket around his neck for a cape, waving a branch taken from a tree and laughing with his best evil laugh. Opposite of him was the hero of their tale. Dakkun with his own branch, cursing him for the evil he brought upon this land. They both engaged in combat and Dakkun, as the hero, emerged victorious.

As they both lay panting on the grass with their sticks and their story forgotten. Raitin turned his head to face Dakkun and in between the gasps for air he asked "So…when…can…I…be the good guy?"

Dakkun grinned and replied "Then I'd have no one to fight against."

"But I want to be a hero!" Raitin remembered himself pleading.

Dakkun sat up and pretended to stroke a imaginary beard. A moment passed as he thought. Suddenly he slapped his thigh and exclaimed "I've got it! You can be my sidekick!"

Raitin also sat up and questioned Dakkun "Why a sidekick?"

"Cause you're always going to be by my side," Raitin smiled contently as Dakkun said that "But I still can kick your ass!" Raitin's face changed from content to childish anger as he picked up his branch and resumed attacking Dakkun. Dakkun took his own and parried. Both of them grinning at one another. A few blows were exchanged before they both ran out of steam again. They clashed their branches together and held it at a standoff. Suddenly Raitin realised something missing.

"Then who's going to be the bad guy?"

Dakkun smiled and answered "We'll use our imagination."

Raitin was about to grin when suddenly Dakkun's eyes turned completely yellow and his face a shadowy black. His mouth disappeared but in place was a maniacal grin made of sharp teeth. His voice came out from it sounding like it went through a blender.

_~OR I could be the bad guy~_

The branch in shadow's hand was suddenly consumed by the darkness around it's body, with a swing, the darkness swirled away and revealed a keyblade with a solid black blade with a unmoving flicker of flame as its blade design and red curling flames to form a guard for the keyblade. Raitin's own branch broke into two under the force of the swing. He stared in shock at what was happening. This wasn't in his memories. He tried to wake up to get away from the shadowy creature, but his eyes would not open. The creature, now having taken over Dakkun's form, became a humanoid creature with swirls of darkness falling from its form. The only hint of color in it was its hungry yellow eyes. It stretched its free hand out, Raitin realized that it had become a mixture of a claw and a hand. With the palm facing upwards it slowly curled its claws together. Then it spoke again.

_~You have no idea how hard it is to enter your memories!!! It's the only place I can kill you without that pesky Keyblader inside of you coming out.~_

It cackled as it rushed forward swinging the dark keyblade wildly. The keyblade leaving trails of darkness in its swings. Raitin with his small frame easily dodged them but with only a broken branch, it would not be long before he ran out of energy to dodge and start getting hit. The creature managed to land a sliding low kick and cause Raitin to lose his balance and fall. Raitin hit the grass and looked up to the point of the dark keyblade in between his eyes. The point of the blade moved slowly down to over his heart. The creature giggled and spoke.

_~Checkmate~_

It pushed the dark keyblade forward and as it sunk into Raitin's chest, the dark aura around the creature slowly began to seep into Raitin's chest with the keyblade. Raitin could not feel the pain of the blade piercing his heart, instead he felt as though the life inside of him was slowly being put out. He began to feel empty and hollow as the darkness slowly took over. He could only think to himself "So this is death?"

All of a sudden, he felt his whole body fill up with warmth and light began seep out of the edges of the hole in his chest. The creature felt it too as his yellow eyes began to widen in shock. A huge flash of light burst out and melted the dark keyblade away. The light burnt the creature's claw away and left behind Dakkun's hand. The creature stared at it and looked over to Raitin.

Raitin slowly stood up, light still pouring out of his chest. It pushed out all the darkness and seem to make the creature fainter. The creature managed to say one more word before another burst of light came through.

_~Shit~_

The second burst of light blew all the surrounding darkness away and slowly made the world brighter until there was only light.

Raitin shot up straight from his bed and cold sweat sticking his shirt to him. He looked out and noticed from his window view from the top of the hill, the sun was slowly rising. He realised his hand was over his chest and he was gasping loudly. He calmed himself down by telling himself it was just a nightmare. But he wasn't so sure about it. Because somewhere in the back of his mind, he thought he could a voice howling.

_~THIS IS FAR FROM OVER~_


	3. The Meeting

**Raitin ****-**** "Nonspes does not own Kingdom Hearts or any Disney-related characters, including those related to other movies, games or animes."**

**Nonspes - "Nicely done."**

**-Awkward silence-**

**Nonspes – "So…don't you wanna say something to the readers?"**

**Raitin – "I can? Oh well then…umm…I'd like to thank-"**

**Nonspes – " Time's up! Start reading!"**

* * *

"It's just a nightmare," Raitin muttered to himself as he got out of his bed, his body feeling surprisingly sore even after that long night's rest "A stupid nightmare." He looked into the mirror while brushing his teeth, trying to distract himself by wondering if his reflection would move by itself again. He put his toothbrush back into his cup and started to take off his shirt to change. A twinge of pain flared across his chest as he pulled the shirt over his head. Raitin grimaced and continued tentatively. A pinkish streak of irritated flesh stretched over his chest was slowly revealed as Raitin removed his shirt. He brushed his fingers across it and felt his skin tingle. Raitin tilted his head to the side, his brows furrowed in confusion.

Raitin shook it off and continued to change. He wore his favourite black shirt with a star made up spray painted lines, along with a short sleeved dark blue hoodie over it. He stepped into a pair of jeans and stuffed his wallet into the pockets. He headed down and took his shoes from where he left them yesterday. Raitin opened the main door and quickly put his shoes on. He reached for his wallet, flicked it open and took out a crumpled piece of paper. It had been folded and opened many times, its surface filled with creases. Raitin read it again for about the hundredth time since he got it.

_Hey Rai! Just found out how to send letters to you. That's my excuse for the silence for this month. Don't worry, I'll try to send letters more often! Oh yea. At the end of this month, there's going to be a sort of parade held right at town square. The Keyblader Academy's going to send an official notification soon. It's for Keybladers to show off their skills and to let people understand our mission. But before that, let's meet up. I'll see you at the final battle ground! _

_-Dakkun-_

Raitin remembered how he got confused when he saw the letter. Then he realised what Dakkun meant. The park where he and Dakkun staged their most epic battles. It had a wide open field, perfect for any kind of final battle. Suddenly Raitin realized he had a dream about that place, he frowned to himself as he tried to remember what it was about. The dream, like all dreams, slipped out of his mind as he tried to remember it. He sighed in defeat to the second mystery today. He got on his bike and pedaled towards the park.

As headed down the slope, his reflection flashed on the semi-reflective surfaces of the windows from the houses around him. Jumping from window to window. Raitin gripped the handles of his bicycle and made a sharp right turn at a junction.

The road to the park was nostalgic. The very street that Dakkun and he walked up and down. All the things they would talk about flowed into his mind. The Keyblades, Heartless and magic. Raitin's pedaling slowed as he recalled bits and pieces of those moments. School work, games, jobs and sometimes even girls were discussed on this very stretch of road. He wandered around in the thoughts, unaware of his surroundings. A sudden crash brought him back to the real world. Raitin snapped back and he realized he had pedaled straight into a lamp post. The lamp post seemed oddly bent at different points, with some scratches covering its frame.

The "Metal Warrior" were the words scratched onto its bent body. Nostalgia washed over Raitin. The "Metal Warrior" was one of the many enemies that had attacked Raitin and Dakkun. It bore scars of the many battles it went through. Mostly on the losing side.

Raitin reached out to the pole and just as his fingers touched it, a loud "clang" resounded around him. He pulled his hand back and turned his head to the right to face where the sound had come from. His eyes met the darkness of the alleyway and slowly began to focus on what might be in there. All his senses were focused on identifying what had made the sound. Slowly his eyes got used to the darkness, his nose gradually picked up a faint scent of alcohol.

The faint clinking sound of something rolling made itself more clear as the seconds passed. A shape in the darkness started to form. A bottle of wine rolled out from the alleyway and stopped at the edge of the road. Raitin got off the bike and moved towards it to pick it up. As he got closer to the alleyway, the secrets the darkness held were revealed.

The bodies lying on the dark and grimy alley floor came to Raitin's attention first. He realized it was the "Alley Snakes". It was made up of the school's five biggest bullies. Raitin grinned as he remembered facing them off with Dakkun by his side. They were huge for teens but they could not match Raitin and Dakkun in speed. He put the bottle back into one of their hands and stepped back. As he went deeper into the alley, he noticed their sixth member lying on the floor. He looked tough and quick on his feet.

"Maybe he could put up a better fight," Raitin thought to himself as he moved out the alleyway. He got back on bike while the Alley Snakes lay undisturbed in their drunken stupor.

Raitin moved his bike away from the "Metal Warrior" and pedaled on to the park. His reflection stood there while holding the bike on the surface of the "The Metal Warrior". It glanced around with same expression Raitin had earlier. Its eyes surveyed the area and looked around suspiciously. After a while, it moved on while continuously looking back.

As soon as the reflection disappeared from the mirrors around the street, the sixth figure stood up and the shadows of the alleyway stuck to it. It moved towards the opening, darkness flowing out from its shadowy form. The darkness like a fog spread around the alleyway, silent and deadly. As the Alley Snakes breathed it in, darkness spread across their bodies through their veins. Their bodies convulsed and shook with the force of the darkness slowly taking over their hearts. The wine bottle Raitin had put into the leader's hand smashed into a thousand shards as new found strength seeped into them.

The Alley Snakes awoke with a new purpose burned into their minds. The darkness receded and went deep into their bodies. Their eyes flicked open with the irises of their eyes a dull yellow. They walked out of the alleyway, their bodies moving almost robotically. Heading for the target imprinted in their minds. The shadow remained in the alleyway and slowly sank back into the darkness.

-

Raitin parked and locked his bike into a grille and strolled into the park. He could almost see every battle they had happening around him. The park in the early morning was quite the sight. The dew from the grass sparkled from the slow rising sun. As he moved deeper into the park, the clearing came into view. The grassy plain was usually crowded with people flying kites or having picnics, but at this time of the day it was empty.

Raitin breathed the morning air in and stretched his body. All of a sudden, Raitin felt something hit the back of his head. A small crunching sound as the projectile crushed itself in the process. Raitn whirled around and saw no one there. He kept his eyes in the direction of where it came from and knelt hands patted around, searching for whatever hit him. His fingers grasped on to a rolled up ball of paper, and Raitin looked down in confusion. As soon as his head tilted forwards, something rushed out and from the trees and poked a blunt object on the back of his neck. It happened too fast for Raitin to understand what had happened until a voice came out from behind him.

"You are too naïve, my sidekick," Raitin spun around and came face to face with Dakkun, his blonde hair glowing in the morning sun with his blue eyes shining. The morning light also revealed his his Keyblade. Its blunt end pointing towards him, with its side facing to the sky. Raitin could see the blade was a golden cross and there was another cross as part of its teeth. It looked almost like a huge cross and a smaller one had fused together.

Raitin nudged the point away and stood up. The golden but blunt blade followed it. The hand which grabbed the handle let it move and then opened up. The keyblade seemed to drop for a second before disappearing in a flash of light. Raitin and Dakkun stood facing one another. The both grinned and raised their right hands. Closing it into a fist, they both punched, connecting fist with fist.

"You call that a punch?" Raitin taunted with his mouth still grnning

"Oh! I'm sorry," Dakkun replied with a voice soaked in sarcasm "I didn't want to break your arm with all this power here." He rolled up the sleeves of the white Keyblader Academy uniform, flexed his arm muscles and patted them.

Raitin rolled his eyes and started walking towards the exit. Dakkun jogged to catch up. Once Dakkun caught up, Raitin bombarded him with questions.

"So you all wear white?" Raitin asked while using a finger to tug at the uniform.

"Yep." Dakkun nodded as he put his hands behind his head and used it like a resting pad.

"What's with the hood?"

"Mine is special," Dakkun grinned "I requested for it."

"Seriously?" Raitin asked, his eyes showing puzzlement at how the Academy worked.

"Nope," Dakkun used his finger and flicked Raitin's forehead "You're just really gullible."

They both broke into a run with Dakkun as the lead. Raitin chased and tried to grab him but Dakkun seemed to swerve away before he could grab the shirt. When they reached the exit, they dropped to the ground, their skin sheen with sweat. Their lungs gasping for the morning air. Raitin caught his breath first and walked over to his bike.

He unchained it and turned to Dakkun. "C'mon man."

Dakkun stood up and walked over. He wiped the sweat off his brow and pointed towards the town square. "That's where I'll be meeting the rest of the security group."

"Security group?" Raitin raised a eyebrow, looking at him with complete disbelief as they started to move forward, with Raitin pushing the bike along.

"Some of us are really good at fighting," Dakkun crossed his arms and puffed his chest out "So they take those people and ask them to take security positions."

"And you're one of them?" Raitin continued giving him a doubtful look.

"Of course," Dakkun declared proudly.

Raitin's doubtful expression slowly changed from one of shock and amazement. His mouth slowly opening in shock. Then he uttered "Probably because you can't do anything else."

Dakkun contented face quickly changed to one of pseudo anger. "You dare mock your master?" And they both ran towards the town, laughing at their own jokes.

As they got deeper into the town, they had to stop running so they would not bump into people. The whole town was here to watch the parade, it would be a waste to miss such a occasion. Raitin and Dakkun squeezed through the crowd with some of the townspeople saying hi to Dakkun.

"The town square isn't smaller than it used to be right?" Dakkun muttered while walking around.

"No…there's just a lot of people," Raitin continued to push and move slowly through the crowds "The other kids are up ahead…if they're not late."

All of a sudden, Dakkun seemed to freeze on to the spot. His face betrayed no emotion, but his eyes had the look of shock on them. He grabbed Raitin by the shoulder to get his attention. Raitin turned his head to look at him. He asked in a calm voice "Yea?"

Dakkun kept his voice level so that Raitin wouldn't suspect anything. "Listen…I've just remembered I have to get something."

"Ah…no problem man, I'll go ahead," Raitin turned back to face forward to continue walking and waved backwards to Dakkun

"I'll see you outside Madam Florene's Sweet Shop." Dakkun yelled over the crowd, He could barely see Raitin nod and give a thumbs up.

Dakkun rushed into the nearest alley and started to search dig into his pockets. He pulled out a rectangular-shaped hand size golden badge. It had two keyblade crossing on another with the letters 'K' and 'A' at the sides. Both keyblades were glowing a soft red and it made a small buzzing sound which only the person holding on to it would feel and hear. Dakkun tapped the keyblades and spoke into it.

"What's the big idea putting us into level 6 alert?" Dakkun's voice almost a whisper.

"Its not a joke," Dakkun froze up as he heard those words from the security manager "We detected 5 high level Heartless moving to your direction. We're activating the alarms. Get out there and direct the people out. Avoid combat at all costs, use those spells we've been practicing. Reinforcements are on the way."

Dakkun glanced around and spoked in a hushed tone again "Exactly which direction are they approaching from?"

"Down the street to the right," the voice snapped back "Move your ass now!"

What the security manager did not know was the second Dakkun heard the directions he had already bolted out of the alleyway. He could hear the alarm blaring out from the speakers that were set up by the Academy. People got confused and did what confused people did best; run away from whatever they were supposed to. The streets became a river, pushing Dakkun in the opposite direction but he couldn't leave till he saw Raitin in the stream of people.

As he shoved and squeezed his way through the waves of people, his mind worked to remember the entire layout of the town, he cut off portions of what he did not need and finally found it. Kura Street was the street to the right. It was also the same street Madam Florene's Sweet Shop was on.

**Now that your done reading, please pay in reviews. Comments and criticism are both accepted. Thank you!**


	4. Darkness Rising

At first, everyone in the crowd had stopped moving, as if the wailing of the alarm had robbed the town's people of all movement. The wailing dragged on, silencing the crowd until the first person started to move towards the shelters they hoped they would never have to use. The hurried walking became running as the alarm slowly raised the urgency of getting somewhere safe.

Raitin soon became part of the crowd, being shoved between the masses. His view soon became one of people's backs and heads. Raitin suddenly heard Grandma Aeris voice crying out a name, a name so familiar it rang out through the wailing alarm and the cries of other people.

"Serah! Serah I'm over here! Serah!!!" As Raitin got closer, he realized the rest of the orphans were there as well, except for Serah. Once Raitin got close enough, he grabbed on to Grandma Aeris shoulder and caught her attention. Her tears streaming down her face, with fear and worry mixed all over her expression. Raitin wasted no time and asked her "Did something happen to Serah?"

Grandma Aeris nodded and wiped the tears off her face and replied to Raitin. "We lost her somewhere near the sweet shop, then we couldn't go back," Raitin nodded and tightened his grip. He grinned and spoke "It won't be that hard, not a lot of people have pink strawberry as a hair color," Raitin saw the kind smile he had seen many times return to her face. He reassured her by squeezing her shoulder and nodding his head again. He stood up, spun around and got stopped before he could move.

A pair of small hands grabbed on to his pants and pulled, anchoring Raitin to a stop. He spun around and saw Snow giving him his most determined look he could muster.

"Bring me with you! I can help!" He begged to Raitin. Raitin grinned while placing his hand on Snow's head and crouched down "Of course you can help," Snow's face seem to light up at those words "Help me bring the rest to the shelters." Snow's expression did a full reversal and his mouth opened in protest.

"Wait! I want to-" Raitin shook his head and told him firmly "I can't do both at once, so could you do this half for me?"

Snow stared at him, his chest swelling as he thought of the weight of his task. He nodded and said almost smugly "Fine. Just this once."

Raitin grinned and noticed the other hand belonged to Éclair, her eyes brimming with tears. "Bring my sister back, please." Raitin nodded and turned around and started to jostle through the crowd as Eclair slowly let go.

As he went further the number of people lessened, soon it was just people who were deeper down in the town, they ran faster and their faces had more fear in them. Raitin could see why, further down the street were black form, with pinpricks of yellow shuffling amongst them. Heartless.

Suddenly, he caught a glimpse of Serah's pink hair in small gap, disappearing as soon as it had appeared. Raitin turned to where he saw Serah's hair and shoved through the waves of people, ignoring the insults they shot as he slowed them down. He broke out of the crowd and saw Serah standing by the street. She was turning her head left and right looking for the orphans, her face a mask of terror that Raitin had seen on everyone's face. Her hand clutching on to the arm of her favorite button- eyed doll, squeezing it tightly from the fear she felt.

He dashed towards her and quickly picked her small frame up. Once Serah saw Raitin, the mask of terror melted away and got replaced by tears of relief. Her smile returned and she began to wipe her tears. Raitin gave her a smile to reassure her and started heading towards the shelter. They were both at the end of the trail of people heading to the shelter. The Heartless were right behind, they were still in deep trouble.

The shops with their grey walls and large windows flew by, this was after all the shopping district. He used to play catch with Dakkun on these streets, they were all too familiar.

A blast of cold air shot pass Raitin and snapped him out before he sunk into his memories again. His eyes widened in surprise and he saw Dakkun ahead holding his keyblade and pointing it at the Heartless behind. Raitin turned around and saw a icicle flying through the air and smashing into the ground. It pieces spread and created a wall of ice, blocking the Heartless.

Raitin slowed down once he reached Dakkun and gave him a nod. He caught his breath before looking at Dakkun and asking him "What are you doing here?"

Dakkun raised a brow and replied "I should asking you that, I'm just saving civilains."

"Well I'm being a civilian helper," Raitin retorted while tilting his head at Serah. Serah looked up from her doll and whispered a faint greeting.

Dakkun smiled and patted her head, Raitin looked at him and asked "Shouldn't we get going?"

"Nah…my Blizzard should have stopped them in place." Dakkun and Raitin turned back and saw the Heartless crawling under the wall and over it. Dakkun let the keyblade disappear and held up his arms to carry her "Ok never mind, I'll carry her since you look like you just ran a marathon."

Raitin passed Serah carefully and shot back "Shaddup useless spellcaster, let's go."

Without warning, the air was cut by an ear splitting howl. Raitin covered up his ears to try and block it out, but it continued through and pierced his eardrums. Dakkun tripped as his sense of balance was shaken, his body falling to the ground with Serah. He moved his feet to below him and regained his balance. The sudden movement combined with the howling, caused Serah's fingers to loosen and let the doll fall to the ground.

The doll hit the ground and at the same time, the howl stopped. Raitin winced at the pain in his ears and went over to pick it up. Dakkun turned around to check on Raitin, while Serah reached for her doll.

Raitin's fingers wrapped around the doll and the whistling began. Raitin and Dakkun cocked their heads up to find out what made it. The whistling was like a high pitched squeal, as if something was speeding through the air.

Suddenly something smashed on to the ground, sending up a huge curtain of smoke, cutting their vision. Dakkun felt the air ripple at the darkness coming out from it. He carried Serah with one hand and let his keyblade snap into his other. There was something in there. Something dark.

"Dakkun! Can you hear me?" Raitin's voice came from the huge plume of smoke and dust, Dakkun looked around desperately for his friend. It was impossible to see where he was.

"Yea! What?" Dakkun yelled back while keeping a eye out.

"Bring Serah to the shelter, I'll go there through the alleyways!"

"Are you nuts? There's something in there with you!"

"Just go! I think I know my way around town better than whatever just smashed into the ground!"

Dakkun spun around and moved towards the shelter, his keyblade bursting into light again. "The rescue team must have reached by now, they can help find Raitin if he's still missing." Dakkun thought to himself as he picked up speed. Suddenly he heard Serah's voice, full of worry.

"What about Rai and Dolly?"

Dakkun grinned and answered her "Rai's saving Dolly, he'll be O.K," Serah nodded and went quiet again. "He'd better be O.K." Dakkun thought to himself.

Meanwhile Raitin stood in the dust cloud and tried to remember where he was before those things landed. "The alleyway should be to my right," Raitin mused to himself. Suddenly a shape appeared through the dust, a huge form coming out of nowhere. Raitin felt his face exploded into pain as something hit it. It hit like a sledgehammer and lifted him off his feet. He flew back and landed outside of the dust cloud. He felt his head ring and a voice muttering in his head.

**-Bring him back…Alive- **

They were not his thoughts. They felt like something slimy and disgusting had gone into his head. He felt like shivering at those thoughts but the pain from his face nudged it out of his mind.

Raitin sat up and got off the ground while groaning and clutching his face. He had braced himself for impact, but this was beyond what he expected. He spat and saw drops of blood hit the street. Whatever it was, it hit hard.

He looked up and noticed the five shapes appearing out of the smoke. They stood in a line, blocking the way to the shelter.

"I'll just have run pass." Raitin planned while he felt adrenaline spiking his movements as he got up.

He let them take another step before sprinting forward. The one directly in front of him swung a right hook as he got closer, Raitin reacted and bent his spine forward, while the fist flew wild. He shot his own fist forward and combined it with the force of his running speed. He felt a resounding thump and pushed forward.

"Heh my revenge punch, eat that freak," he smirked and pushed himself forward "If they can be hit, they're not Heartless, so I'm saf-"

A sudden snag pulled Raitin to a stop, as well as cutting his train of thoughts. He heard the sound of fabric ripping and trying to hold itself together, he knew what it was. The hoodie. Raitin slingshot back and saw what exactly had grabbed him. The creature he had punched.

One arm supporting its huge frame, another clutching at where Raitin's fist had connected with. A impossible third arm stretching itself to grab what it could. A arm consisting of shadows convulsing as it pulled Raitin back.

As he crashed on the floor, thoughts raced through his head "A Heartless? But I could hit them," He started to stand up again and noticed one of the creatures in the air. It pulled its fist back and prepared to smash Raitin as it landed. They were definitely not human, it had jumped over some of the two storey shops.

Raitin sat there stunned for a moment before rolling out of the way. The creature smashed into the ground and created a disturbing sound of something breaking. Raitin sat a few metres away and saw its hands had broken through the cobbled walkway and left a few spider web cracks. The creature pulled and the fist broke out, Raitin saw its silhouette through the quickly clearing smoke, flexing its fingers to check if they still worked.

Raitin murmured to himself "No way." Out of his peripheral vision, he saw another creature heading towards him. He stood up and backed himself with a wall. It fired off its fist and Raitin leapt out of the way and curled up to roll away from that fist. He heard the sound of stone crumbling to give way to something tougher, he got up into a crouch and realized the Heartless from behind had caught up, he was completely surrounded.

The dust had cleared enough that Raitin could see the features of the Heartless. They looked a lot like the Heartless he had seen in books. Ink black bodies and dull yellow eyes. Some looked quite big and others were smaller, but they all had the same look in their eyes. They looked like a creature staring at prey, not daring to get closer because of a bigger predator. The Heartless just formed a thicker circle, trapping Raitin and hissing at him.

Raitin noticed the five huge forms were getting closer, as they came out of the remaining dust in the air, their black leather jackets with their shiny silver letters on it. It spelled out "Alley Snakes".

Raitin's eyes widened in shock as he tried to understand what was happening. One of the Alley Snakes bolted forward and caught Raitin by his shoulder and threw him aside. Raitin flew through the air and smashed into a huge display glass and broke through. The force of the throw gave him enough force to continue his flight a bit more and smash his back into a couple of shelves. Raitin's head hit the ground and he felt it spin. The pain from the punch swirled around and increased.

The edges of his vision seemed to slowly fade into the darkness. His mind still managed to think to itself "Sorry Serah..couldn't bring your doll back..Sorry Dakk-"

_~Giving up? Loser. Lemme show you how to really use your fists~_

With that, their target dropped into unconsciousness. One of the Infected moved into shop to retrieve the target. The shoes belonging to this body crunching the glass on the floor into smaller bits as it got closer. It grabbed the target by his shirt and pulled him up. His head flopped back lifelessly while his arms dangled off his shoulders.

The Infector did what the master told them to do and checked the target's pulse. It beat steadily. The target was still alive. The Infected turned its head to inform its companions when it felt a grip crushing the arm it possessed. It spun its head back and saw the target glaring at him. It felt like predator looking at him. Considering its prey. Wondering how to kill it.

The room became darker as darkness seeped out from the target, the other Heartless outside had retreated away from the presence of a hunter. The Infected in the shop attempted to break the grip but it held despite all the pulling. He heard a guttural voice speak out, it came from the target.

_~Get your~_

The target clenched its fist and pure darkness spurt from it. The Infector felt something seize the heart of the human. The Infector felt it before. When it saw its master, it felt fear from the power his master held. This was no different.

_~hands~_

The darkness around the fist seemed to increase and push everything away, the shelves were blasted into the corners of the shop, the rest of the unbroken glass shattered and exploded outwards.

_~OF ME!~_

The Infector felt the fist connect and pulverize the human's face. The darkness in the fist shot forward like a missle, going through the body and smashing into its own. The blast pushed it out and smashed it into a building. It opened its dull yellow eyes and saw a huge claw holding it in place. Another thought shot into the Infected minds.

**-Suppress him. I am coming****-**

The rest of the Infected moved forward nervously, attempting to face the huge beast of darkness they saw. The rest of them felt their brethren fade away as the massive shadow claw clenched. The sound of the wall being destroyed with their brethren only made them fear the beast more. The rest of its Pureblood brethren rushed forward in their huge numbers. They had been giving permission, they would use their numbers to hold the beast down. Their simple minds ignored the animal instinct of running from the beast.

_~Spike Grave~ _

Darkness shot from the ground around the beast, coming out as spikes. It decimated the Heartless numerical advantage. Many of them disappearing into wisps of darkness, hundreds of the pink crystalline hearts released into the air.

The spikes faded away and the beast turned its attention to the four Infectors. Darkness completely surrounding its human form, the claw retracting and becoming part of the darkness surrounding it.

_~Show me what you can really do…or you'll die~_

The fear of the beast and of their master twisted the human's hearts, the Infector felt the fear pulling at their minds to run, but then their master would crush them. Another roar from their master steeled them and they rushed to their inevitable deaths.

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**Reviews please/plox/PLEEEZE/I'm begging here…**


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